The invention pertains to a device for setting and bonding holding elements or fasteners onto support surfaces, wherein the holding elements or fasteners are provided with connecting surfaces, the exposed side of which is coated with a dry hot-melt adhesive that can be reactivated under the influence of heat. This device comprises a housing with a receiver part for the fastener that is movably guided in the housing, and a means for rapidly heating the hot-melt adhesive and lowering the receiver part, as well as pressing on the adhesion surface after the adhesive has melted.
A device of this type for automatically setting holding bolts is known from WO 98/12016. In this case, the holding bolts are placed on the support surface by a robot to be exactly perpendicular. The holding bolts are transported to the bolt receiver part through a feed channel and sufficiently heated by an induction coil surrounding the receiver part such that the hot-melt adhesive melts and the holding bolt can subsequently be pressed onto the support surface.
This setting device is especially designed for holding bolts with circular discs and is only suitable for use with metallic bolts due to the inductive heating process. In addition, it is unsuitable for manual use because the adhesion surface needs to be placed on the support surface absolutely plane-parallel in order to achieve the desired bonding effect. The adhesive on the connecting surface of the fastener is unable to obtain the required contact with the support surface if the displacement axis of the housing is only slightly inclined relative to the support surface. In this case, the fastener would also not be arranged exactly perpendicular to the support surface such that secure mounting of a functional or structural component using the fastener would be jeopardized.